2011/11/01

There's something I don't like to admit to myself, but here it is: I can't handle the darkness that well. As much as I try to ignore it, it affects me in a bad way. I grew up close to the polar circle where the winters are much much darker than they are in here, but the older I get the worse it is. Therefor I decided to get up early today and run some errands (and include a lunch bribe) which took all day and I really needed the light.

My cure used to be to accept the darkness but obviously I'm not that good at lying to myself. A long walk in daylight helps very much and as self-employed working in the evening is no problem really (as long as I don't fall asleep). What is your best cure against the darkness?

Posted by
sandra

36 comments:

I know how you feel, as I don't do so well in the darker days of winter either. I like to light candles at night, cook dinners I really look forward to eating, and maybe watch a good movie or read a good book to help me deal with the long dark nights. I agree though, being outside in the daylight does help a great deal!

In the mornings I give myself extra time to read in bed before starting my day; it seems to take my mind off how dark it is. I light candles more, too. And I leave the blinds open in the evenings. It might sound weird, because you can see how dark it is, but seeing all the lights on in other people's apartments makes it easier to understand that the world is still awake and active. If the blinds are closed in winter evenings, I somehow feel more closed in than when it's dark in the summer.

I suffered for years until I finally decided to try a SAD lamp. It might just be the placebo effect but I honestly look forward to basking in its bright light for a few hours every morning, it's like sitting next to a sunny window.

Getting up and out of the house for fresh air in the morning definitely helps! As do candles and lots and lots of lamps. And booking a holiday to somewhere warm and sunny in late January or early February when you just can't take that sh•t anymore. :)

Moving from London to Oslo last year was a huge shock for me! In the dead of winter we go dark at 3pm and the sun rises about 9.30 am. At first it really got me down but a mixture of candles, good winter food, sitting in the sun when it was out and taking tran each day really helped! Im still dreading the long winter though! Lykke til!

Beautiful sunny colours of knitting wool and a good cosy lamp in the evenings, early to bed with a good read, that does it for me. I don't hate the darker days , but I have to get used to them again, especially after this lovely October. Getting up when it's still dark is less pleasant, I burn candles with my breakfast.I live on the Belgian coast, and the winters meen less tourists, stormy weather, and a fresh nose on the desolate beach... all seasons have something nice, but yes, let the spring start early next year! Love your blog!

I'm exactly the same way. Being in California really helps me because there are less dark days, but even now when the days are getting shorter I can feel myself slowly getting up later and being a little more lazy about things. Forcing yourself to run at least one errand a day in the daylight definitely helps!

Getting up earlier works for me! Also I make sure to get plenty of Vitamin D and we usually visit my mother-in-law during the winter once. Luckily she lives in sunny Belize :) A week or so somewhere sunnier and more south always helps. A cheaper option is a SAD lamp. I also try to really get into decorating the house with lights. I am not religious but we still do a x-mas tree. Mostly for my parents but also decorating the home cheers me up and the lights make the dark cozy. I think the pagans were on to something :)Oh and one last thing that helps me: Thinking and looking forward to summer! I love the long nights during the summer. In Belize the sun always pretty much sets at the same time.You get lots of light during the day all year long, but the nights are not short and the sunsets are fast. They never get those gorgeosu summer nights we can have up north.

In Italy there's plenty of sunlight, some years we even get too much of it, the heat is very strong, shade and darkness are sometimes a relieve for me. Once a danish friend of mine said how sad it is for her to see houses with closed shutters during summer days. But I like the beauty of light filtering through closed shutters, it gives me a feeling of peace and freshness. This might sound strange, but there's beauty also in shade and its blue tinted atmospheres. Also, I believe people from scandinavia are masters in compensate lack of light during winter and they use indoors artificial lightining in an esquisit way. Your homes do feel warm and cosy in a way we cannot really accomplish. Enjoy the beautiful light of a flickering candle too :-)

Growing up and still living within the Polar Circle, I know what you mean. It can take a toll on a person (and people often move after living here one winter...) My cure is to get up at the same time every day, go to bed at the same time, live a regular lifestyle of enough sleep and food, and excercice. It also help to have nice things happening to look forward to: the film festival happends in the darkest period, and lots of other interesting cultural stuff.

I don't like winter because of the darkness as well. I don't really have any cure but probably what I do most in those winter days is have a couple of hours off for me to watch a movie with a blanket and a hot beverage.

My weapons against the dark are Christmas lights, Gluehwein, and hiding inside good books. ...But it's also hard for me, working in an office where it's dark when I leave the house, and dark when I come home at night.

i have the same problem. and the older i get, the harder it gets to accept the looooong lasting darkness. if there is just any sunny days, i try to get out. i also have these kind of bright light lamps, so when it´s the darkest time of the year, i try to eat my breakfast my nose almost attached to it. but it´s rather pathetic;) The best thing is to travel somewhere else where ever there is more light. one two weeks already helps a bit.oh man. november here again..

Hi Sandra!Well, I live in Portugal and usually there is lots of sunshine here. Now, the days are shorter and at 6pm is already dark and today is a terrible day because it´s raining cats and dogs,it´s windy and I'm depressed :(. I'm a sunshine person and I don´t like grey days. In winter I like cold days but with lots of sunshine. I would like to visit your country Sweden, but I think I could´nt live there in winter due to so much darkness.

hej dear sandra,we have that bright light lamp too. it helps. and yes walking and dinners with good people. and making darkness comfortable and taking it more easy. all the basic things one should try to take care of. i think darkness makes one think what is really good for you and others, makes you more thoughtful maybe.

i've started to enjoy darkness, but during january and february i often start to feel too tired of it, maybe because i feel i should be more active and make more things done. but i notice myself longing for sugar these days!

yesterday i listened to a radio show about people's experiences on darkness and the blue moment before darkness and the beauty of it. lots of people were calling and telling nice stories about darkness. one was a man who has been sailing from europe to america and he told about the darkness out there in the ocean with amazing amount of stars and how the moon looks there and the sounds of the ocean. it was nice to hear about these precious moments and ways to think about darkness.

about that other artessen thing, i wish i could help you and wish you can focus on other things soon!

i'm a bit of a night owl and embrace the long nights :) so i fear there is no advice from me. i love the changing of the seasons, the natural change in rhythms. the darkness does not seem to bother me too much.